Ments



(No Model.)

0. H. EDWARDS.

ATTACHMENT FOR STOP MOTIONS 0P KNITTING MACHINES.

No. 324,097. Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

' BY a ATTORNEYS.

NTE STATES arsnr Fries.

OLIVER H. EDWVARDS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOE, BY MESN E ASSIGN- MENTS, OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICK H. MOGOUN, OF SAME PLACE.

ATTACHMENT FOR STOP-MOTIONS OF KNITTING- MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 324,097, dated August 11, 1885.

Application filed November 2, 1883. Renewed Jul 9. 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER H. EDWARDS, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and Improved Attachment for Stop-Motions of Knitting-lVlachines,-

of which the following is a full, clear, and ex.- act description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved attachment to the stop motions for knitting-machines, so that in case the yarn is knotted and breaks it will break some distance from the needle-cylinder, thus enabling the stop-motion to stop the machine before the end of the thread reaches the cylin- I 5 der, and thereby preventing the dropping of any stitches in the fabric.

The invention consists of cutting blades mounted on a support above the needlecylinder, the said blades being held closed by a spring and open by a lever having a yarnguide in one end, whereby when a knot in the yarn encounters the guide the blades will be released and the yarn severed some distance from the needle-cylinder.

2 5 The invention also consists in various parts and details and combinations of the same, as

will be fully described and set forth herein after.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying 3o drawings, forming part of this specification, in

which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of my improved attachment for the stop-motions of knitting-ma- 5 chines. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail cross sectional view of the same on the line x 00, Fig. 2.

A plate, A, provided with an upwardly-pro jecting arm or standard, A, is held on a stand- 40 ard, B, or on any other suitable support, some distance, say, about two feet, above the needlecylinder and above the yarn-spool O. The yarn from the spool 0 passes through a loop of the yarn-guide D, secured to the plate A. 4 5 and from the said guide the yarn is passed between two spring-shanks formed on the edge of a curved lever, E, pivoted on the standard A. The end of the lever E is bent backward over part of itself, so that the space between the two parts or springshanks thus formed will be sufficient to let the thread pass, but not sufficient to let a knot pass. From the end of the lever E the yarn passes through an aperture, 0, in the end of the plate A, and then passes to the needle-cylinder. 0n the top of the plate A a scissor-blade, F, is fixed in such a manner that the cutting-edge of the said blade will beat one side of the aperture a in the plate A, through which aperture the yarn passes. To the fixed blade F a like scissor-blade, G, is pivoted, which is provided with an aperture, H, having a rounded edge. Those ends of the blades G and F opposite the points are drawn toward each other by a spiral spring, K, whereby the cutting-edges 6 of the blades will be drawn toward each other. \Vhen the cutting-edges are separated one will be at each side of the aperture a, as shown in Fig. 2. The downwardly-bent end L of the lever E is provided with a notch, 22, the edge 0 of which is rounded to fit closely against the edge of the aperture H, formed in the pivoted blade G.

The attachment can be applied to any stopmotion arranged to operate when the thread 7 5 breakssuch, for instance, as that shown in the patent of R. Cushman, dated May 22, 1855, No. 12,896. WVhen applied to said machine, it and the spool will be supported upon asuitable bracket above the needle-cylinder, and the yarn after leaving the eye a will pass down between the guide-bars and under the hooks of the levers, which operate the stop-motion mechanism, when the yarn breaks, to the machine. The attachment does not interfere with the stop-motion mechanism shown in said pat- .ent for stopping the machine when a defect occurs in the material.

The operation is as follows: The thread having been passed between the shanks formed by 9 the bent end of the lever E, the downwardlyprojecting end L of the lever E is pressed downward, and the ends of the blades F G are separated and are held separated by passing the end of the downwardly-projecting partL of the lever E into the aperture H. The spring K will then be stretched. If there is a knot in the thread, it cannot pass between the springshanks formed by the bent end of the lever E, but the knot catches against the said shanks, Icq

and by the continued strain of the thread, caused by the cylinder continuing to revolve, the bent end of the lever E will be drawn downward, thereby raising the downwardly-projecting end L. If the said end L is raised, it will be withdrawn from the aperture II in the blade G, thus releasing the said blade and permitting the spring K to draw the blades together, whereby the thread will be cut directly over the plate A. The thread will thus no longer beheld in tension, and the stop-motion then operates and stops the machine, as usual. The machine is stopped before the end of the thread arrives at the cylinder-that is, when the machine stops the end of the thread still hangs from the cylinder, and if the operation is to be continued all that is necessary is to tie the end of the fresh piece of thread. to the end hanging from the cylinder. The stopmotions in general use stop the machine well enough; but before they can fully stop the needle-cylinder all the remaining thread up to the end of the same is taken up by the cylinder, and more or less needles have no thread to take up, and thus stitches are dropped-that is, an opening is formed in the knit fabric. It is this that I avoid by means of my attachment to stopmotions, as I cut the thread such a length from the needle-cylinder that, even if the needleeylinder does continue to revolve after the stop-motion has been applied, it cannot take up all the thread connected with the fabric being formed by the needles in the cylinder.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The eombinati on, with a suitable support, of cutting-blades mounted on said support, a spring for closing the blades, and a lever pivoted above the said blades, and having one end provided with a yarn-guide and its other ongaging one of the cutting-blades for holding the same open, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination, with asuitablesupport, a standard projecting from the support, a pair of cutting-blades mounted on said support, and a spring for closing said blades, of a lever pivotedto the said standard, and having one end provided with spring-shanks and its other end with a doWnwardly-projecting portion engaging one of the cutting-blades, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. The combination, with the plate A, having the standard A, of the fixed blade F, the pivoted blade G, the lever E, pivoted on the standard A, and having one end bent over and the other end projecting downward, and the spring K, secured to the blades F Gr, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. The combination, with the plate A and the standard A, of the pivoted lever E, having a downwardly-projeeting end, L, provided with a notch, I), the fixed blade F, and the pivoted blade G, having an aperture, H, provided with a rounded edge, and the spring K, substantially as herein shown and described.

0. H. EDXVARDS.

\Vitnesses:

Lures It. \VILLIAMSON, MienanL IIoRnAN. 

